Flying in the Movies Trivia Quiz

Answer: Douglas Bader

In the film, Kenneth More plays Douglas Bader, who lost his legs in a flying accident in 1931 and was medically discharged from the RAF. He persuaded the authorities to let him rejoin in 1939 and he eventually became an accomplished fighter pilot, in spite of having artificial legs.

He was shot down in 1941, taken prisoner and after several unsuccessful escape attempts was transferred to the notorious Colditz Castle for the remainder of the war. Kenneth More played golf with Bader several times, both to observe the way he walked on his artificial legs, and and also to learn about his character.

Answer: His Labrador was knocked down and killed.

Gibson's black Labrador was killed by a car just outside the camp entrance. Gibson was told just before takeoff, and asked that the dog should be buried around the time the attack on the dams was going in. The grave can still be seen outside a hangar at RAF Scampton. Richard Todd takes the role of Gibson, with Michael Redgrave playing the part of the scientist Barnes Wallis, who had to convince sceptical authorities that his bouncing bomb would work.

Answer: Model aircraft designer

Initially the captain and navigator are sceptical that Dorfmann can do the job and infuriate him by referring to his model aircraft as "toy planes". During filming, the stunt pilot Paul Mantz was killed when the original Phoenix crashed on landing. The 1965 film was a masterpiece with a great cast, including James Stewart, Richard Attenborough and Hardy Kruger, who played Dorfmann.

The 2004 remake was a total turkey!

Answer: James Stewart

The film tells the story of Lindbergh's epic flight when he became the first man to fly solo across the Atlantic. Stewart was an accomplished pilot in his own right, having first obtained his pilot's licence in 1935. He served as a bomber pilot during WW2 and commanded a B24 Liberator squadron in England, flying on bombing missions over Germany. Post war he remained in the US Air Force Reserve and flew B36, B47 and B52 bombers, eventually reaching the rank of brigadier general - all while pursuing a successful film career!

Answer: Major "King" Kong

Peter Sellers famously played three roles in the film, and was supposed to also play a fourth, Major Kong, the pilot of the B52. However he sprained his ankle during filming and was unable to move around the aircraft. Slim Pickens was brought in at short notice and he had to obtain a passport quickly as he had never left the US before and the filming was taking place at Shepperton Studios in England.

He was brilliant in the part and it is difficult to imagine the B52 scenes without him! General Turgidson was played by George C. Scott, General Ripper by Sterling Hayden and Colonel Guano by Keenan Wynn.

Answer: William Walton

Walton later rearranged the music from the film into a very atmospheric piece he called "Spitfire Prelude and Fugue". He also composed the music for the famous Laurence Olivier film, "Henry V". The part of Mitchell, who died before seeing his famous aircraft go into service, was played by Leslie Howard, who was killed in a flying accident in 1943.

Answer: Polish

Dowding thought that language difficulties and a general lack of discipline would adversely affect their efficiency, but in the end the Poles flew with great distinction during the Battle of Britain. They were numerically the largest nationality to take part, other than British.

As well many British Empire/Commonwealth countries, pilots from a number of foreign countries flew in the battle, including France (13), Ireland (10) and the USA (9). This is one of those "spot the star" films, with such greats as Laurence Olivier, Michael Caine, Christopher Plummer, Trevor Howard and many more all playing roles.

Answer: Yamamoto

The part of Yamamoto was played by vintage Japanese actor and director So Yamamura. This was an excellent telling of the story of the Japanese air attack on Pearl Harbor, with some amazing aerial sequences from the days before computer generated special effects. The later "Pearl Harbor" is a much inferior film.

Answer: London and Paris

This 1965 film is set in 1911 and is about an aircraft race from London to Paris for a £10,000 prize. The producers assembled a large cast for the film, including some well known British comic actors such as Terry-Thomas, Eric Sykes, Tony Hancock and Benny Hill.

However the real stars were the aircraft from the Shuttleworth Vintage Aircraft Trust, some original, some replicas, which took real skill to fly.

Answer: Mosquitoes

The De Havilland Mosquito was a fast, manoeuvrable fighter bomber which was unusual in that it was almost entirely constructed in wood, and was ideal for a raid such as depicted in the film which required speed and pinpoint accuracy. The film starred Cliff Robertson as the American squadron commander and George Chakiris (Bernardo in "West Side Story") as a highly improbable Norwegian resistance fighter! The film is perhaps best remembered for its theme tune, composed by Ron Goodwin.